There were several failed attempts to save the building. Last fall, Aspen city council members rejected a proposal that would have allowed voters to decide whether the city should buy the Given for $15 million. Around the same time, an anonymous developer proposed building three spec homes on the property and selling the Given building to the city for $3.75 million. But the developer backed out after city officials rejected the plan in part because it would have destroyed too many trees on the property.
When You Went Away
That’s when neighbor Jonathan Lewis came forward with an offer. Initially, he proposed dismantling sections of the Given building, keeping the façade while turning other portions into apartments and a studio. “We weren’t happy with that,” Guthrie says. “It wasn’t really historic preservation.”
Lewis came back with a revised plan that would have kept more of the building intact for reuse as a residence, but after failing to reach an agreement with the city, he decided to demolish the Given. Despite this outcome, Lewis still sees himself as a good neighbor who was able “to step in and protect the property from overdevelopment.” His brother may build a new home on the site, he says. Weese, who died in 1998, designed the Washington, D.C., Metro system and that city’s Arena Stage, which recently underwent a major renovation. He bought a house in Aspen in 1968 and lived there part-time.
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